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Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) in India: A Historical Perspective

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Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) in India: A Historical Perspective!

It will not be less than correct to say that India got the political freedom on 15th August 1947, but not the economic freedom. And attainment of economic freedom i.e., emancipation from poverty and unemployment was the biggest challenge before the country. The war for economic freedom started in 1950 in the form of planned development. Then, it was realized that the way to get rid of poverty and unemployment lies in the effective exploitation of hidden potential in the country. For this the policy makers started advocating the promotion and development of small- scale industries in the country. As a result, small – sector was recognized as employment- oriented sector during the early sixties.

The employment-oriented thinking for small sector underwent changes by the end of sixties and now small sector was recognized as an effective instrument to utilize the entrepreneurial potential remained hitherto dormant in the country.

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Realizing the various problems faced by the entrepreneurs in establishing enterprises, the Government decided to offer promotional package to the entrepreneurs. Promotional package included financial help and incentives, infrastructural facilities, and technical and managerial guidance provided through various supporting organizations of the Central, State and local levels.

This experience made the planners and policy makers realize that facilities and incentives are, of course, necessary for establishing enterprises, but are not sufficient to solicit adequate response from the entrepreneurs. Hence, now it was realized that emphasis on human development is a necessary condition for entrepreneurship development. As such, the serious thinking on entrepreneurship development began from here.

Concerted efforts on entrepreneurship development in India started with the establishment of Small Industry Extension and Training Institute (SIET), now NISIET, in 1962 in Hyderabad. SIET got an opportunity with support from Harvard University to do pioneering work in entrepreneurship development in India.

SIET in collaboration with Prof. David C. McClelland of Harvard University conducted 5-years’ training and research programmes in Rajamundi, Kakinada and Vellur towns of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. McClelland proved that, through proper education and training, the vital quality of an entrepreneur, which McClelland called ‘need for achievement’ (n’ ach) can be developed.

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The fact remains that McClelland’s this successful experiment proved to be a seed for entrepreneurship development in India which has by now become a movement as EDP (Entrepreneurship Development Programmes) in the country.

It is against this background now the Government and financial institutions started thinking to develop entrepreneurship in the country through training programmes. It was the Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation (GIIC) which for the first time started a three-month training programme on entrepreneurship development in 1970.

This programme was designed to unleash the talent of potential entrepreneurs and some selected entrepreneurs. Special emphasis was given on three aspects:

(i) Establishment of small-scale enterprises,

(ii) Its management, and

(iii) To earn profits out of it. By the latter half of 1970s’, the news of GIIC’s EDP spread to the other parts of the country also.

A major initiative to foster economic development in the North East India took place with the establishment of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in 1972. The main objective of the NEC was to promote economic development of the NER through inter-state plans and bring the NER to the mainstream of the country. This is a matter of great satisfaction that the NEC has since been seriously involved in its task of regional development. Two more significant efforts were initiated in 1973 with an objective to remove the economic backwardness of the region.

One, the establishment of the North Eastern Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organization, (NEITCO) to impart training on entrepreneurship development, and second, the establishment of the Entrepreneurial Motivation Training Centers (EMTCs) in its six district headquarters of Assam.

Since EMTC was one of the oldest and noblest initiatives taken in the field of entrepreneurship development in the country, some mention about the same seems pertinent. The State Planning Board of the Government of Assam, under the dynamic leadership of the then Chief Minister, took the initiative in requesting SIET Institute, Hyderabad to be associated with training and research in the field of entrepreneurship development in Assam with specific focus on self – employment for the educated unemployed youth of the State (Mali 2000).

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In response to it, the SIET Institute organized two training programmes for three weeks duration each in 1973, for the officers of Government of Assam One training programme was focused on entrepreneurship development for a selected band of officers from the departments of industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, public works and other departments and financial institutions of the Government of Assam.

The training programme included inputs like various methods and techniques of identification and development of prospective entrepreneurs, development of entrepreneurial personality, and identification of economic opportunities for setting up small-scale enterprises in the State.

Functional areas of management for establishing and operating small enterprises on sound lines were also included in the training programmes. Second the another simultaneous training was imparted to the another group of officers of the industries department to encourage people to establish small-scale industries, undertake industrial potential surveys, select growth centers, plan infrastructure facilities, and develop business profiles.

Integrated entrepreneurship development model and plan were evolved as a result of SIET’s experience and realisation that entrepreneurship development is a multi-disciplinary task, and the long-range plan should be executed through well coordinated and orchestrated institutional support.

The integrated model of entrepreneurship development proposed by SIET included five main components, namely:

(i) Local organization to initiate and support potential entrepreneurs till the break-even stage,

(ii) Inter-disciplinary approach,

(iii) Strong information support,

(iv) Training as an important intervention for entrepreneurial development, monitoring and evaluation, and

(v) Institutional financing.

Initially EMTCs were established in six centers in Assam under the State Planning Board, which were monitored by 26 officers trained by SIET in May 1973. The team in each centre consisted of multi – disciplinary talents. It is learnt that in 1979, after a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of EMTCs by SIET Institute, the programme was transferred from the State Planning Board to the Industries Department. Three more centers were added to the earlier six locations.

SIET and Small Industry Development Organisation (SIDO) through Small Industry Services Institute (SISl) and Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and Technical Consultancy Organisations (TCOs) started organising EDPs.

The encouraging results of these efforts culminated to the establishment of Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), Ahmedabad in 1979. Here, it is noteworthy that CED, Ahmedabad was the first centre of its kind wholly committed to the cause of entrepreneurship development.

Inspired and influenced by the success of CED, Ahmedabad; the national-level financial institutions such as IDBI, IFCI, ICICI and SBI with active support from the Gujarat Government sponsored a ‘Nation Resource Organisation’, called ‘Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI)’, Ahmedabad, in 1983.

This institute was entrusted with the responsibility of extension and institutionalization of entrepreneurship development activities in the country which the Institute has been discharging successfully.

Almost at the same time of establishment of EDI in 1983, the Government of India established ‘National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development’ (NIESBUD) to coordinate entrepreneurship development activities in the country.

In course of time, some State Governments with the support from national level financial institutions established state-level Center for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) or Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (lED).

By now, the twelve States, viz., Bihar, Goa Gujrat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh have established either CED or lED. EDPs in these states were conducted by the TCOs before the establishment of CEDs or lEDs. According to the study of NIESBUD, some 686 organisations are involved in conducting EDPs in the country which have imparted training to thousands of people by conducting hundreds of EDPs.